Gaming machines are operable to play such games of chance as slots, poker, keno, bingo, and blackjack. A major limitation inherent in the design of conventional gaming machines is that a wager generally purchases a single play of a game. The machine generates a random event for the purchased play and provides an award to the player for a winning outcome of the random event. Each play of the game is generally independent of other plays such that a given play is not correlated with prior or succeeding plays. Occasionally, the random event for a purchased play may trigger a bonus game involving lively animations, display illuminations, special effects, and/or player interaction, but the hit frequency for such bonus games is generally so low (e.g., once every 100 plays) that a player's gaming experience is still essentially the same from one play to the next. This low hit frequency is generally dictated by underlying math models used in the game to select game outcomes.
The static nature of the gaming experience can cause boredom among players and deter new players from being attracted to a game. Also, players who wish to experience a bonus game may become frustrated during dry spells in which the bonus game is not triggered. Even if the bonus game is eventually triggered, its duration is limited to the current play and another dry spell is likely to ensue at the conclusion of the bonus game.
In an effort to make the gaming experience more dynamic, some conventional gaming machines have attempted to introduce some interdependence between purchased plays of a game with an accumulation feature that accumulates one or more elements of the game over multiple plays. For example, a prior game entitled “Piggy Bankin” includes three symbol-bearing reels and an accumulation feature in the form of a piggy bank. In response to a wager, the reels are spun and stopped to place symbols on the reels in visual association with a pay line. For each spin resulting in three blanks along the pay line, the piggy bank is incremented by the wager amount. For a spin resulting in a “Break the Bank” symbol on the third reel, the player is awarded the accumulated total in the piggy bank. In another example, a prior game entitled “Boom” includes a plurality of symbol-bearing reels and an accumulation feature in the form of a firecracker register. In response to a wager, the reels are spun and stopped to place symbols on the reels in visual association with multiple pay lines. A firecracker mark is added to the firecracker register for every 25 credits wagered. Each firecracker mark is worth one credit. The player is awarded a firecracker bonus equal to the number of firecracker marks in the firecracker register when either (1) the firecracker register reaches fifty firecracker marks, or (2) a spin results in two “wild match” symbols anywhere on the display.
Although such accumulation-type games are generally entertaining, the gaming machines with the accumulation-type games suffer from a couple shortcomings. First, to redeem any accumulated element, a player must continue to wager and play the game until accomplishing an infrequent predetermined event that triggers the redemption of the accumulated element. If the player must walk away from the gaming machine for some reason, e.g., the player runs out of money, the player may be frustrated by his/her forfeiture of the accumulated element which now remains on the machine for redemption by a subsequent player. Second, because players may walk away before redeeming the accumulated element, people looking to play a game with an accumulation feature may scout for and hover around those machines with a more attractive accumulated element. Casinos may frown upon games with this type of “vulturing” effect because players may be pressured to relinquish their machine just when the accumulation feature appears to be ready to pay off.
Accordingly, a need exists for a gaming machine that overcomes one or more of the aforementioned shortcomings associated with conventional gaming machines.